1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to improved methods for designing treads and treads so designed. The invention provides a method for designing traction surfaces intended to grip and provide traction on other surfaces, i.e. substrate surfaces. Traction surfaces so designed may be for tires, shoes, drive belts, and in general for tread applications where high traction is desirable.
2. Background
Tread design as currently executed is an experimental process, with extensive “cut-and-try” techniques applied. Tires are very common traction devices and are a typical example for which an experimental design process is used. Treads for tires are almost exclusively designed as variations on the theme of a repetitive series of blocks on a base with full-depth spaces between them. Block shape is varied from shapes as simple as a cube to complicated multiple sizes or irregular shapes. The spaces between the blocks can range from narrow to wide or they may be slits or sipes. The spaces can be normal to the surface or tilted in the direction of action of the traction surface. The outermost or contact surface of the blocks can be smooth or patterned with a repetitive grid-like surface modulation with a depth that is a small fraction of the block dimension. Typically, patterns of the blocks are varied over the tread surface to provide improved characteristics at inner or outer edges, at the toe or heel of a shoe tread, or to provide improved foreign matter expulsion from the traction area.